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PEOCEEDIIGS 



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THE BAR OF NEW YORK, 



IX MEMORY OF 



JAMES W. GERARD. 



Nm gork : 

JOHN F. TROW & SON, PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS, 

20S— 207 EAST TWELFTH STREET. 
1874. 






Columbia. Univ. TJH. 



PROCEEDINGS AT A MEETING 



MEMBERS OF THE BAR OF THE CITY 
OF NEW YORK, 

HELD ON THE OCCASION OF THE DECEASE OF 

JAMES W. GERARD, 

PURSUANT TO THE FOLLOWING CALL : 



The Members of the Bar are requested to attend a meet- 
ing to be held on Thursday, Feb. 12, 1874, at the General 
Term Rooms of the Supreme Court, at 2 o'clock P.M., to 
take action upon the death of the late Mr. James W. 
Gerard. 

Chas. O'Conor, E. H. Owen, 

Wm. M. Evarts, James Thomson, 

Edgar S. Van Winkle, C. A. Seward, 

Henry Nicoll, A. J. Vanderpoel. 

Pursuant to the above call a large number of mem- 
bers of the Bar assembled, including many representatives of 
the Judiciary, in the General Term room of the Supreme 
Court, on Thursday, Feb. 12, 1874, for the purpose of 
giving united expression in relation to the life, labors, and 
character of the late James W. Gerard. 

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Henry Nicoll, 
upon whose nomination, Chief Justice Daly, of the Court 



of Common Pleas, was nominated to preside. The follow- 
ing named gentlemen were appointed Vice-Presidents : 

Hon. Noah Davis, 

Presiding Justice of the Supreme Court. 

Hon. Claudius L. Monell, 

Chief fust ice of the Superior Court. 

Hon. Lewis B. Woodruff, 

United States Circuit Judge. 

Hon. Samuel Blatchford, 

United States District Judge. 

Charles O'Conor, Esq. Hon. Edw. Pierrepont. 
Hon. William M. Evarts. Benjamin D. Silliman. 
Hon. James I. Roosevelt. F. F. Marbury. 
Edwin W. Stoughton. Hon. Joseph S. Bosworth. 
Genl. Charles W. Sand- Isaac P. Martin. 

ford. Hon. John McKeon. 

Edgar S. Van Winkle. James Thomson. 
Hon. Daniel P. Ingra- Edgar Ketchum. 

ham. Aaron J. Vanderpoel. 

Edward H. Owen. Clarence A. Seward. 

Hon. William Mitchell. John E. Parsons. 

Smith E. Lane, Secretary. 

The organization of the meeting being completed, Ex- 
Judge Pierrepont said : 

" Of the eminent members of the New York Bar who 
have died within the memory of the living, I think no one 
was followed to the grave by a larger concourse of sincere 
mourners than was our friend, the late James W. Gerard. 
The sorrow for his death did not arise from the fact that an 
eminent lawyer had ceased to live ; it had its spring in the 
hearts of those to whom he had devoted, or for whose 
benefit he had devoted, all the later years of a long life. 
He had sought no public honors. He had desired to de- 
vote his time and his energies, after he had acquired his great 
reputation and a sufficient fortune, to the good of his fellow- 
citizens, in those varied ways with which we are all familiar. 



He had preferred, instead of taking a public course, and 
serving his fellow-men before the public gaze, to devote 
himself to their private interests, to their welfare, to their 
education, to their enlightenment — to lead them in the 
paths of honor and of virtue. Sometimes reflecting men in 
our country of late begin to be somewhat alarmed lest good 
men like Mr. Gerard shall too much neglect the public ser- 
vice, and prefer in the serener walks of private life to gain 
their honors, to perform their duties, and to do their great 
work. If the time shall ever arrive, if the day shall ever 
come, when good men, feeling themselves driven from pub- 
lic life, shall turn their backs upon the public service, and 
prefer to serve their country and their fellow-men in private 
walks, it will not be an auspicious day for those who love 
our country and our Government. The committee have 
prepared some resolutions, which it is proposed I shall 
present to this meeting, and I will now read them. 

Judge Pierrepont then read the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That in the death of James W. Gerard we recognize with 
peculiar solemnity the removal of one who for nearly sixty years has 
been identified with the Bar of New York, among its most prominent 
and distinguished members, who, although shunning public life and 
official station, has earned the character of a model citizen, and who 
throughout an active life of more than fourscore years retained un- 
sullied the reputation of an honest man. 

Resolved, That the Bar of New York desire to place on record their 
appreciation of his high professional ability, his self-sacrificing devo- 
tion to the educational interests of the community, and his inflexible 
integrity in every walk of life. 

Resolved, That, though he stood among us full of years and full of 
honors, the connecting link between this and a former generation of 
lawyers, yet his never-failing flow of youthful spirits and genial humor, 
and his uniform kindness of heart, endeared him alike to the oldest 
and the youngest of us as a pleasant companion and a familiar friend. 

Resolved, That we sincerely sympathize with the family of our late 
friend in their bereavement, and that a copy of these resolutions and 
of the proceedings of this meeting be duly certified to them by the 
President and Secretary. 

Mr. Edgar S. Van Winkle said : 

Mr. Chairman : I have been requested to second the 
Resolutions, and I heartily do so, as tending to contribute 
to the memory of our deceased friend some little tribute, 



slight indeed, but perhaps the only one which the mem- 
bers of the Bar could pay to the memory of a lawyer. 
As a lawyer I could not forbear the thought, when I 
heard the eloquent remarks of the gentleman who moved 
the Resolutions, how fit and proper it was that the mem- 
bers of the Bar should, on an occasion like the present, 
meet together as a body, and pay their tribute of respect 
to the memory of a departed brother, and thus delibe- 
rately express their sense of the worth of the departed as 
a man, and his ability as a lawyer; for of all fame and 
the reputation which men seek, there is none more 
ephemeral and evanescent than that of a lawyer. The 
fame of a great soldier, or statesman, or writer, or poet, 
or philosopher, may endure for centuries ; but that of a 
lawyer, merely as an advocate, seldom survives beyond his 
own generation. 

Where is the fame of the earlier lawyers of this State, 
even of Hamilton, and Burr, and Van Ness, andVanVech- 
ten, and Henry, and a score of others ? Lost in oblivion. 
Hamilton and Burr have still a name as statesmen and poli- 
ticians, but only the plodding student, who digs into the 
rich quarries of law-learning in our earlier reports would 
know anything of them or their associates as lawyers. 
To come down later, who now, except those who lived partly 
in their times, can do justice to the ability and perform- 
ances of Emmet, and Ogden, and Hoffman, and Slosson ? 
In fact, but recently, when I was speaking to a young 
but intelligent and generally well-informed member of our 
Bar about the late George Wood, he inquired who he was, 
and when and where he flourished. Now the reason why 
the fame of the soldier, the statesman, the historian, the 
poet, and the philosopher, is so much more enduring than 
that of the lawyer, is, that they act in wider fields, to more 
extended and general audiences, and appeal to general sym- 
pathies and interests ; while the lawyer is the advocate of 
some particular view, appeals to no common interests, and 
commits his utterances to some local tribunal, and to very 
limited audiences. 

This being so, I say it seems highly proper, that on the 
death of a distinguished lawyer, his fellow-lawyers should 
assemble together, and over his closing grave testify to the 



world around of the worth, the learning, and the ability of 
their fallen brother, so that he does not descend to his grave 
without even the light of a present reputation. 

The life of Mr. Gerard, historically considered, was an 
uneventful one. One day or one year had but little to dis- 
tinguish it from any other day or any other year. He was 
a successful lawyer, good as an advocate at the Bar, but 
perhaps better as a jury lawyer. For over half a century 
he was engaged as an active lawyer — one much sought 
after and extensively retained — and I think it is something 
to say in his high distinction, that of all his forensic con- 
tests, some of them involving great interests, and many 
severely and bitterly contested and urged by him, sometimes 
with warmth, there was nevertheless in his character such an 
upright and truth-loving principle, and so much charity and 
good-will to man, in his temperament, that no one man long 
entertained any enmity towards him, and that he retired 
from the arena without leaving an enemy behind. This 
is indeed high praise, and should consecrate his memory so 
long as ours endures. 

Mr. Gerard, though he from his early manhood , now some 
sixty years ago, was a busy and successful lawyer, yet found 
the ability, as he had the inclination, to give a portion of 
his time and attention to the interests of his fellow-mortals. 
Half a century since, he united with a few other citizens to 
found the HOUSE OF REFUGE, on a principle then new, but 
humane, benevolent, and philosophical — that is, to reform 
the young transgressor, rather than to punish him ; to open 
the doors of honest and respectable life to him, and induce 
him to enter, rather than to stamp out all shame in him, 
and to close the doors of a prison upon him. 

This institution, then, founded by his aid, was one of the 
first of those reformatory institutions now bearing such a 
prominent part in the criminal jurisprudence of many 
nations. 

Mr. Gerard helped to lay the foundation of this New 
York House of Refuge, then one of the first, as it has con- 
tinued to be, to this day, one of the leading reformatories of 
the world. As this was one of the earlier good works of 
Mr. Gerard, he continued through his active professional 
life to take a warm interest in all improvements of the 



8 

government of this his native city. And after he retired 
from his forensic labors, he took such an interest in the 
children of our Public Schools, and spent so much time in 
their behalf, and endeared himself so much to them, that I 
think, however evanescent his fame as a lawyer may be, 
it will survive greenly and fresh as a man for this genera- 
tion, or until the scholars of to-day shall have passed away, 
and a new generation shall succeed them. 

And with these few remarks, I now formally second the 
Resolutions. 

Remarks of Hon. John McKeon. 

Frequently, Mr. Chairman, has the Bar of New York 
been summoned to pay the last tribute of respect to some 
one of our distinguished dead, but I venture to say that 
never have we come together with sadder hearts than on 
this occasion. The grief our brethren feel for the loss of 
James W. Gerard is deep and sincere. All of us are aware 
how feeble words are to express our sorrow or to speak of 
his merits as a man, a citizen, and a lawyer. Mr. Gerard 
was a native of this city. In his nature Scotch and French 
ancestry mingled. In him were united the solid sense of 
the Saxon with the refined taste of the Celt. Educated in 
Columbia College, in this city — an institution which has 
given to the Bar and the Commonwealth intellectual giants 
like Hamilton, and Jay, and Clinton — he prepared himself 
diligently for the profession of the law, and for about half a 
century pursued the practice in this city. During that pe- 
riod he contended successfully with the master spirits of his 
time, and retired, only a few years since, amid the plaudits 
of his associates. An ovation was tendered to him, at 
which his professional brethren attended to do honor to one 
whom they not only respected, but loved. It was a com- 
pliment such as no man but himself ever received in this 
city. It may be said of Mr. Gerard that he tried more 
causes than any other member of the profession, and it 
also may be said of him, with truth, he tried them more suc- 
cessfully than any other. At nisi prius he was unrivalled. 
He was indefatigable in the preparation of his case. He 
was master of his facts. He was armed with the law appli- 



cable to those facts. He entered the arena the well-oiled 
gladiator. In the struggle before the jury he was always 
courteous to the Court and to his opponent. There was 
not a weak point in his adversary's case which he did not 
attack with vigor, and at the same time he never exposed 
any weak points in his own cause to his opponent. His 
knowledge of human nature, displayed in his examination 
of witnesses ; his genial humor and kind-heartedness, enliv- 
ening and brightening every step in the cause ; his style of 
putting himself perfectly en rapport with the jury ; above 
all, his matchless tact, all combined to. give command of the 
case and sweep him on to an easy victory. One of his pecu- 
liarities was well expressed by the late Justice Nelson, that 
Mr. Gerard knew when to stop speaking to a jury. He had 
learned and profited by the lesson that Ctesiphon was driven 
into exile by the Spartans because he said he could speak 
all day on any subject. One of the strong points in his 
character was, that, while apparently trifling with the cause, 
he was constantly engaged in developing to the jury the 
essential facts in controversy. He had the faculty of think- 
ing like ordinary men. He knew that the movement of this 
world was made up by business men, not dreamers. He 
appealed with unerring success to the common sense of 
jurors, and during all the time he appeared before them he 
was without a peer, and has left no man to fill his place. 
And yet they who have crossed lances with him, and who 
have been vanquished by his skill, can find no trace of 
wounds. No unkind word, spoken often in the heat and 
excitement of a trial by most of us and as frequently regret- 
ted so soon as uttered, ever escaped Mr. Gerard's lips. 
After the contest was over, nothing could be remembered 
but his kind words, and they who were conquered by him did 
not envy him his triumph. Mr. Gerard, although pre-emi- 
nent as an advocate before a jury, was deeply versed in 
legal lore. Our books of reports will show how frequently 
he was engaged in cases of the highest importance, and that 
in the development of the great principles of jurispru- 
dence he was fully equal to any occasion on which he was 
called upon to appear. Let me now turn to Mr. Gerard as 
a citizen of this great metropolis. As such, he was full of 
generous and Christian charity. He was identified with 



IO 

movements which tended to promote the interests of soci- 
ety, to advance the power of this city, and to relieve 
human suffering. About twenty years ago he suggested 
mostjmportant reforms in our police system. In the earlier 
part of his career he was the originator of the House of 
Refuge. He sought to create an asylum for the young in 
crime, where they would be saved from the contamination 
of old and hardened violators of the criminal law. His ambi- 
tion was to save the young offender from total ruin. In after 
years we find him devoting himself to the children of your 
schools. No man so thoroughly sympathized with them 
and took such sincere pleasure in preparing them for the 
active duties of life. If ever man enjoyed the love of chil- 
dren, Mr. Gerard did. The spectacle presented at his 
funeral, the attendance of the little ones he loved, with their 
moist eyes and saddened hearts, is one that will not soon 
be forgotten. Of him with truth it may be said, 

The children's voices hymn his sweetest praise. 

Mr. Gerard lived to a ripe old age. More than eighty 
years had been given to him on earth. He was one of those 
of whom it has been said, although he had the misfortune 
to be old in years, yet he had the happiness of dying with 
a young heart. Up to the close of his career there was a 
vivacity and freshness of feeling which would not permit us 
to realize his advanced age. One of the remarks made by 
Mr. Gerard was, that the lawyer has no immortality. In the 
changing scenes of life eminent men for a time fill certain 
roles ; soon they disappear and are forgotten, their places 
to be filled by others. As Massillon has truly said of life, 
" It is but the dream of a night." Yet even if the fame of 
the lawyer is so transitory, may we not hope there is one 
at least, who, for a long series of years, will be remembered 
as the accomplished and generous man, the good citizen, 
and brilliant lawyer ? For such was James W. Gerard. 



Remarks of Hon. Maunsell B. Field. 

Mr. Chairman : Although not a professional contem- 
porary of Mr. Gerard at the time of his greatest triumphs 



1 1 

at the Bar, I presume that there are but few present who 
have known him longer than myself. More than forty 
years ago his family and mine resided on contiguous blocks 
on Broadway, and among my early boyish recollections there 
are none more delightful than those of the charming musical 
evenings which I used to pass with others of my age at the 
house of the great lawyer. Mr. Gerard's fondness for 
children was not of recent date, and in what he has done 
for the youth .of this city in late years he has but yielded to 
an affectionate impulse of his nature. Mention has been 
made, by the two gentlemen who immediately preceded me, 
of Mr. Gerard's efforts in establishing the House of Refuge. 
My own father, who has been dead many, many years, was 
also one of the first governors of that beneficent institution. 
Mr. Gerard was in many respects a remarkable man, and 
kindliness was one of his most distinguishing traits. Reared 
amid the appliances of luxury, adversity overtook him while 
still young and made a man of him. Instead of whining 
and desponding, he threw himself into his profession with 
an industry and .an energy which soon brought him to the 
foremost rank, and enabled him not only to retrieve his 
losses, but to withdraw from the Bar in affluence years ago. 
His power over a jury in civil cases was almost equal to that 
of Ogden Hoffman in criminal ones. Good-humored, 
genial, full of wit, humor, and tact, and possessed, withal, 
of that magnetic power which brings men to you, he was 
always a formidable antagonist in nisi prius cases. His 
knowledge of commercial law was versatile and profound, 
and he was the peer of Lord and Cutting, in that galaxy 
which shone so brightly upon our courts a quarter of a 
century ago. Friendship made no demands upon him 
which he found too exacting. He was imbued with kind- 
ness' toward all his species. It seems but yesterday that he 
came to me, an unpaid advocate in behalf of a humble 
suitor, and never in the time of his glory did he labor more 
earnestly when his fee was thousands. Although his polit- 
ical views were sometimes considered whimsical, he was an 
honest, if occasionally a mistaken, patriot. He never 
sought office and never would consent to accept it. When 
such a man drops by the wayside crowned with honors and 
with years, we may well pause for a moment to thank God 

L.ofC. 



12 

that he has permitted him to live to dignify humanity and 
to elevate our common profession. 

Remarks of Judge Henry E. Davies. 

In the absence of the senior member of the Bar who has 
communicated his great regret at his inability to be present 
on this occasion, Judge Davies stated that he had been 
requested to add his tribute of respect to the memory of 
their deceased friend and brother. 

It had been the fortune of the speaker to. have known Mr. 
Gerard for many years, and to have witnessed at the Bar 
his great ability as a lawyer, his courtesy as a gentleman, 
and his affectionate regard for his associates. He had ever 
been distinguished for varied learning and exhaustive re- 
search. He never came to the trial of a cause without 
complete and perfect preparation, obtaining the mastery of 
all the points to be established for his client and anticipating 
those to be made by his adversary. He was ever fully 
armed to sustain his own positions and to refute and over- 
throw those which might be suggested by his opponent. 
As a jury lawyer he stood unrivalled at the Bar; his kind 
and cordial manner won for him the confidence of the jury, 
and the ability and candor with which he discussed all the 
questions presented for their consideration carried great 
weight and most generally insured to him a victory. His 
courtesy to his associates at the Bar, and particularly his 
encouraging and kind treatment of the younger members 
of it, won for him unbounded respect and grateful affection. 
Perhaps there is not a member of this Bar now living who 
has not, on more than one occasion, been the recipient of 
his courtesy and encouraging voice. He left no sting 
behind him when the trial of a cause was concluded, and if, 
in the heat and ardor of debate, anything might have been 
suggested which to sensitive minds would cause disquiet, 
Mr. Gerard' never failed to have it entirely removed before 
a separation occurred. His remarkable success in this par- 
ticular presents him as a noble example, worthy of the 
closest imitation by the younger members of the Bar. If 
they would attain his success, and carry with them the kind 
and affectionate regard, and have gathered round them at 



13 

their departure such sincere mourners as attended the 
funeral of Mr. Gerard, let them closely follow in his foot- 
steps, and adhere with rigidity to the noble example he has 
set them. 

Of Mr. Gerard it may be truly and emphatically said : 

" None knew him but to love him, 
None named him but to praise." 

Remarks of Wm. Henry Anthon, Esq. 

I desire to add my humble tribute of loving respect to 
the many which have been cast upon the bier of our de- 
parted brother. And in doing this, it seems to me that I 
am performing a filial duty, and one which a revered parent, 
were he now living, under these sad, sad circumstances, 
would by no means omit. 

There were many beautiful and touching traits in the 
character of my own and my father's friend — prominent 
among which were his entire truthfulness, his great simpli- 
city and purity of conduct, and his intense love of children ; 
and the presence of those little ones at yesterday's funeral 
ceremonies was one of the most moving incidents of a 
scene where so much genuine and heartfelt sorrow was 
displayed. 

Mr. Gerard was a man of high and generous impulses ; 
his great manly heart was full of noble feelings ; there was 
nothing mean or low about him, and I doubt whether any 
one has ever passed through the conflicts of our professional 
arena, leaving so few enemies and so many, very many 
friends. 

Ambition and the lust of office never lured him away 
from his professional path ; his pride was in his high profes- 
sion : he honored it and it has honored him : he was a lawyer 
in every sense of the word, true to himself, true to his 
clients, true to his country, and, like other great lawyers 
accustomed to weigh evidence, both direct and circumstan- 
tial, true to his God and Saviour, who now, at the close of 
his earthly pilgrimage, we do not doubt will receive him 
among the number of those who, having faithfully perform- 
ed their allotted task in this world, lay them down to rest in 



14 

calm expectation of the peace and happiness which reign in 
the world to come. 



Remarks of Hon. William M. Evarts. 

. WILLIAM M. EVARTS then said : I can hardly remem- 
ber, Mr. Chairman, any earlier familiar person at the Bar, 
since my knowledge of it, than Mr. Gerard. Coming here 
as I did as a student, and into Mr. Lord's office, at the 
time when Mr. Griffin, and Mr. Anthon, and Mr. Lord, 
and Mr. Gerard, younger than they, and Mr. Cutting and 
Mr. O'Conor, still younger, occupied the principal atten- 
tion of the courts and of the profession, in the best busi- 
ness and most frequent causes in litigation, I necessarily 
came to be, as an errand-boy at least, in my master's ser- 
vice, familiar with all these men ; and from the moment of 
my own introduction to the Bar, now thirty-three years 
ago, all of those distinguished lawyers have been constantly 
present to my sight and in the circle of my friends, until, 
one by one, all but Mr. O'Conor have been withdrawn. I 
think it is entirely true — true while the contests of the Bar 
were going on, true after their triumphs had all faded, and 
true after one after another has passed to his grave — that 
among them all there was none that seemed more truly an 
active, practising, useful lawyer than Mr. Gerard. What- 
ever may be said of the learning of the one as superior, and 
the logic of another as more penetrating and subtle, as to 
the grasp of larger questions less frequently brought into 
play that might be assigned to the third ; yet I think during 
all these many years it has been familiarly understood that 
Mr. Gerard, in the multitude of his cases, in the variety of 
his litigations, in the versatility of his powers, and in the 
general fortune of his success, was quite as pre-eminent as 
any ; and it was always true of him that he touched nothing 
that he did not tinge with the traits of his own genial and 
brilliant mind — no case in which he was an advocate and 
served his clients successfully, but gained some of its pros- 
perity from the genial character and bright humor of the 
advocate. So of him, of his contemporaries, certainly of 
no younger contemporaries of his, the testimony must be 
that he had no enemy. He everywhere was welcome- 



15 

welcome to the Court, welcome to the jury, welcome to 
his associates, and welcome to his opponents ; and in the 
constant play of the drama of human life, as performed in 
the courts, he was always cheered as an actor. No doubt 
Mr. Gerard sometimes pushed to the furthest verge a com- 
munication of his personal traits in the management of 
causes, and sometimes his opponents, who, either with- 
out these faculties or without the purpose to employ them, 
did not avail of the opportunity of their use. But it is 
entirely true that no one ever preserved a temper to cen- 
sure beyond the day or week of the discomfiture he had 
suffered. Now Mr. Gerard seems to us all in this com- 
munity as one of our most useful and prominent citizens ; 
yet he never held public office and never aspired to the 
honors with which our profession, furnishing, as it does, a 
great part of the public service in its most distinguished 
position, is quite familiar. But Mr. Gerard has seemed to 
me always a favored example of the public relations of a 
lawyer in the every-day discharge of his professional duties. 
Who has done more to settle and advance principles essen- 
tial to the welfare of great States and of every community 
than Mr. Gerard, who, in litigation, without legislation, 
established the rights of the mother to be heard as to the 
fate and control of her child, and did more to accommodate 
the severity of criminal law to the indulgence of paternal 
protection in dealing with youthful vagrants and marauders ? 
And who, later in life, has better understood and more 
worthily adopted the hallowed principle than Mr. Gerard, 
that he who cares for the nurture and admonition of the 
boys and girls of a country will find its matrons and its men 
able to take care of themselves ? He quite comes up to the 
proposition of the Roman moralist : Not he alone serves 
the State who presides in the public councils, or administers 
affairs of peace or war, or brings forward candidates, or 
manages conventions ; but he who either by steady advo- 
cation, or by particular devotion, cares for the nurture and 
education of the people ; he who advances public morals 
and who diffuses just sentiments of which others have 
greatest need ; and he in his private station is all the while 
filling a public office. In privato publicum ncgotium agit. 
And now, certainly in his lifetime, certainly in his death, 



i6 

Mr. Gerard, if he has never tempted or received the noisy 
suffrage of us, or the rash plaudits of the press, has yet in 
the silent, permanent, intelligent sentiment of this com- 
munity, evinced in every way, found that in these public 
services he had a popular reward of special significance. 
And from Homer's time till now, cheers and feasts in life, 
tears and funeral trains after their death, are all that human 
nature can furnish as testimony of its regard ; and those 
who have attended the cheerful course of Mr. Gerard until 
death struck him at last, and then at the touching scene of 
his funeral, will see that he has lost no form of popular affec- 
tion and regard. 

Remarks by the Chairman. 

The chairman, Judge C. P. Daly, before putting the Reso- 
lutions to the vote, said that Mr. Gerard had tried as many 
cases before him as any other gentleman now remaining 
upon the Bench. It was a great pleasure to him to say, 
from that wide field of experience, that nothing in look, 
word, or manner ever came from Mr. Gerard that subjected 
him (Judge Daly) even to a momentary unpleasantness. 
There were two other ex-members of the Bench present 
who had a like experience in that respect as himself, and he 
had no doubt they would unite with him in that expression. 
He had a vivid recollection of Mr. Gerard's courtesy. It 
was now nearly thirty years since he (Judge Daly) came 
upon the bench. He was at the time of his appointment 
the youngest person placed in so important a position, and 
he felt, when undertaking the discharge of that duty, a 
degree of uneasiness which was the consequence of the 
immaturity of his experience and of his years ; and in one of 
the first cases, not the first, at which he ever presided, Mr. 
Gerard was one of the leading counsel. He placed him 
(Judge Daly) at his ease immediately. Through the case 
he treated him, a very young man, with all the respect, 
deference, and courtesy that would be paid to an old judge, 
laden with judicial honor. Mr. Gerard's bearing on that 
occasion inspired him (Judge Daly) with a feeling of respect 
for him, and, if he might be permitted to say it, a feeling 
of affection, which continued down to the time of his death. 



i7 

The Judge having paid a tribute to the eminent legal abili- 
ties of Mr. Gerard, concluded by putting to the meeting for 
adoption the Resolutions as proposed by Mr. Pierrepont and 
seconded by Mr. Van Winkle. 

The Resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the meet- 
ing then separated. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE UNITED STATES DIS- 
TRICT COURT. 

On the 9th of February, 1874, at two o'clock in the after- 
noon, about an hour before the usual time for adjournment, 
a motion was made in the United States District Court, 
Judge Blatchford presiding, for the adjournment of the 
Court, in consequence of the death of Mr. Gerard. 

Remarks of Mr. J. H. Choate. 

Mr. J. H. Choate said it would be highly proper that 
this Court, in which Mr. Gerard had practised for nearly 
half a century, should take some notice of the event of 
his death. Mr. Gerard occupied so high a place in his pro- 
fession, and was so thoroughly devoted to sustaining it and 
its reputation and dignity ; he was distinguished by such 
valuable gifts that fitted him for its practice and enabled 
him to maintain the profession on a high scale, to which he 
was always devoted ; he was so familiarly known and so 
much beloved by the members of the Bar and the general 
profession, and had endeared himself so much to the judges 
in the various courts in this City and State, that it would 
be strange indeed if no proper notice were taken of his 
death by the Bar to which he belonged and by the courts 
before which he practised. He (Mr. Choate) believed that 
a meeting of the Bar had been called for the purpose of 
expressing regret for his death and affection for his memory, 
and inasmuch as various branches of the Federal and State 
courts had taken notice of Mr. Gerard's death, he would 
move, in deference to the same custom, that the Court allow 
the entry of a motion for adjournment, so as to give the 
3 



i8 

Court itself and the members of the Bar and the judges an 
opportunity to attend the funeral, which takes place to-mor- 
row (this day), at ten o'clock. 

Remarks of Mr. Edmond H. Smith. 

Mr. Edmond H. Smith, United States Assistant District 
Attorney, seconded the motion, hoping that it was not pre- 
sumptuous in so young a lawyer as himself to speak of the 
eminent qualities of so distinguished a member of the Bar 
as Mr. Gerard had proved himself to be in the course of a 
long, able, and honorable career. Young lawyers were 
personally interested in the lives of such men as Mr. Gerard. 
They were the examples to which they should look up. 
He (Mr. Smith) well remembered reading the account of 
the public entertainment given to Mr. Gerard on his retire- 
ment from the profession, and the expression of kindness, 
affection, and esteem which that event called forth in regard 
to Mr. Gerard was one that could never be forgotten. 

Remarks of Judge Blatchford. 

Judge Blatchford said he recognized fully the propriety 
of this motion. It was his good fortune to enjoy the per- 
sonal friendship of Mr. Gerard for some thirty-five years, 
and the substantial point on which Mr. Gerard made his 
mark among his brethren of the Bar and in the private 
walks of life was in his kindness of disposition and the aid 
he extended to the younger members of the profession. 
There was scarcely one of that vast crowd, all of whom 
were younger in the profession than himself, who could not 
recall some marked instance of their professional inter- 
course with him, and of his kindness and consideration for 
them, quite as much in cases where they were opposed to 
him as when associated with him. His regard for young 
men connected with the profession was well known, and 
manifested itself for young people in every department of 
life. He took a deep interest in the House of Refuge and 
in the public schools of the city. He was an honest, earnest, 
upright lawyer, especially a lawyer of vast force in a case 
before a jury. He won his verdicts not by artifice nor by 
mere forms of words, but by earnestness of purpose, 
thorough devotion to his client, assiduity, ability and per- 



19 

severance, in which he set an example to all. The Court, 
therefore, not only for the purpose of acceding to the 
motion, but also with a view to attend the funeral, orders 
that the Court adjourn until twelve o'clock to-morrow (this 
day), and that an entry of the cause of the adjournment be 
made on the minutes. 

The Court then adjourned. 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF THE 
BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 

At a meeting of the Association of the Bar of the City 
of New York, held on the tenth day of February, i8>74, 
the following resolutions were adopted, on motion of Ex- 
Judge Mitchell, seconded by Ex-Judge Emott : 

Resolved, That by the death of our honored and revered associate, 
James W. Gerard, the community, of which he was an eminent citizen, 
have suffered a loss not easy to be supplied and long and seriously to 
be felt in many relations of society. 

Resolved, That we bear willing testimony to the conspicuous abilities, 
elevated character, generous labors, and unfailing spirit which Mr. 
Gerard brought to the practice of the law, and to the general service of 
the public, and in the retrospect of his long and useful life, we find no 
failure of the full measure of duty in the lawyer and the citizen, and a 
multitude of instances and occasions of marked and permanent value 
in the administration of justice, and the promotion of good govern- 
ment and public morals. 

Resolved, That we recognize with pride and gratitude the lively and 
constant interest which Mr. Gerard took in the institution and mainte- 
nance of this association of the Bar, and the large share which his wis- 
dom and genial temper have had in promoting its prosperity, and in- 
suring its permanence and strength. 

Resolved, That this association will attend the funeral of Mr. Gerard 
in a body, to-morrow, to mark their respect for his character, his dis- 
tinguished professional career, andhis great public services. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be presented to the 
family of the deceased, and be published in two or more papers pub- 
lished in this city, and that a committee be appointed by the Chairman 
of this meeting to make arrangements for a meeting of the Bar to pay 
proper respect to the memory of Mr. Gerard, with powor to co-operate 
with any other committee of the Bar for the same purpose. 

Chas. W. Sandford, 

Chairman. 
A. R. Macdonough, 

Secretary. 



20 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE COURT OF APPEALS. 

At a Court of Appeals for the State of New York, held 
at the Capitol in the City of Albany, on the loth of February 
A.D. 1874. 

Present, HON. SANFORD E. CHURCH, Chief Judge, 
presiding. 

Justices. — W. F. Allen, Martin Grover, Charles J. Folger, 
Charles A. Rapallo, Charles Andrews, Alexander Johnson. 

Judge Amasa J. Parker called the attention of the Court 
to the death of the Hon. James W. Gerard, a prominent 
member of the New York Bar, and after addressing the Court 
on the subject of the life and character of the deceased, 
moved that the Court, out of respect to his memory, 
adjourn. 

Mr. John J. Townsend, of New York, on rising to second 
the motion, paid an eloquent tribute to the memory of the 
deceased. 

Chief Justice Church, in behalf of the Court, said they 
heartily concurred in all that had been spoken. 

Ordered that the motion be granted, and the Court, out 
of respect to the memory of Mr. Gerard, adjourn until to- 
morrow morning at 10 o'clock. 

A copy from the minutes. 

E. O. PERRIN, 

Clerk. 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS 

OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE REFORMATION 

OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Managers of the 
Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents held on 
Feb. 11, 1874, Mr. Edgar S. Van Winkle submitted the 
following resolutions, which were adopted unanimously : — 

Resolved, That in the death of our honored fellow-citizen, James W. 
Gerard, the Managers of this Society have peculiar cause of sorrow, 
because, while they, in common with the community at large, lament 
the loss of the upright man, the wise counsellor, and useful citizen, they 
also remember that fifty years ago he was one of the founders of their 
Institution, was one of its Managers, and for the rest of his life was the 



21 

consistent supporter of its foundation principle, the reformation, rather 
than the punishment, of the juvenile offender. 

Resolved, That we express, with sympathy to the family of the 
deceased, our respect for the memory of the good man, our apprecia- 
tion of the learned lawyer and sagacious advocate, and our admiration 
of the earnest philanthropist, who amidst the cares of life, and the 
labors ofhis profession, did not forget or neglect the claims of degraded 
and suffering humanity upon his vigorous exertions for its elevation 
and relief. 

Resolved, That the Board of Managers will attend the funeral of Mr. 
Gerard, to take place this morning. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family of 
the deceased, and be also published. 
Extract from the minutes. 



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